The Locksmiths
by Ghost-Rewire
Summary: The age of the Nobodies has passed, and as Sora and friends age the Keyblades begin to disappear from the worlds. An era of peace has set in, held strong in the light by those who have guided it there, but the closer you get to the light, the greater your shadow becomes. When a terrifying new enemy emerges, Sora, Riku, and Kairi must find the strength to save those they love.


(Hey fanfiction, It's been a long time since I've written anything, and I'm just throwing this up for kicks to see the reaction of the readers. I don't really know if I plan to continue it. As always I have no ownership of Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy and the Characters within are written in solely because I love them and am a fan. Feel free to inbox me any questions or concerns and drop a review. Read on.)

Sora grumbled as Pluto's nose forced its way under his covers. The dog was a machine, 8 am every morning, without fail. Sora didn't mind so much, it kept him on schedule. Even though he'd grow up quite a bit, neither he nor Riku ever developed any real sense of responsibility in the day to day.

Riku was 23 today… Sora had a hard time believing so much time had passed since the incident at castle oblivion. He, Riku, and Kiari had stayed inseparable since the incident. Almost unwilling to let each other out of their sights for fear the worlds would divide again and one of them be lost. As he tossed his legs over his bed he smiled at the picture of him and Kairi on the nightstand… That had happened. After Xemnas met his end and he and Riku found the crack to the light Sora had wasted no time in asking for Kairi's hand. They were all but married, and that he was happy to pronounce was already in the works. They had settled in Hollow Bastion with the others, there had been no warning, but the Island and Twilight town vanished soon after they had defeated the nobodies.

It wasn't all joy… Kairi had been hurt quite badly in the struggle; she had been hospitalized for weeks after drawing her keyblade. Her heart was strong enough to wield the weapon, but sadly her body wasn't. That had been the first keyblade to disappear. The kings weapon fell by the wayside next… he had visited one day and announced he no longer had the power to draw it. Only he and Riku still had the ability to draw their respective keys, but he could tell it was getting harder and harder for Riku. He himself had lost the ability to draw all forms of the key but Lionheart. He didn't know why that key remained, but every time he drew the magic it greeted him like an old friend. He'd lost the ability to draw the dark keys first… Oblivion, The Red Dragon, Pumpkinhead, Guardian Soul. Then steadily the others stopped coming, Metal Chocobo, Lady Luck, the Jungle Key, Three Wishes, Fairy Harp. The greatest scare came when he realized he could no longer call upon the kingdom key. Always Lionheart, and always with the charm Kairi had given him underneath traverse town. He didn't know if it was a bad thing that the keys were disappearing, but he knew that they were. Riku now refused to draw his unless circumstances were dire. Even with all the strength Riku possessed it left him exhausted to even brandish the blade.

The others all knew of course, If anyone saw Sora holding Lionheart they would be on guard… If anyone saw Riku holding Way to the Dawn they all knew to run.

Not that such things ever happened. Both he and Riku had dulled quite a bit in the last few years. Leon had taken over defending the town, Riku assisted on occasion, but with Yuffie, Cloud, Cid, and Tifa around no one dared attack Hollow Bastion. The worlds had been quiet as of late. Aladdin had taken it upon himself to gather the leaders of the other worlds and properly fortify each. Not that much instruction was needed. Mulan, Herc, the Beast, Jack, Tarzan, King Triton, they needed no help securing their worlds. One might have worried about Alice, but no one was fool enough to waltz into wonderland, far too many ways to lose your head in that place. Still the Cheshire had assured Sora he would look after Alice.

Donald and Goofy had returned to the Kings Castle, and alongside Merlin and the King Mickey it would have been foolishness to attack the grounds. Chip and Dale had worked tirelessly securing safe routes between the worlds, and now one could come and go almost anywhere without need of weapons onboard their gummy ship. Not that such a thing stopped Cid from installing them. He'd been quite proud of his newest gummy creation, "The cross lazer." Which quite to his displeasure he had to try out on an asteroid for there were no enemy ships to be found.

"Couldn't them damn squirrles have left us sumthin to shoot at?!" he'd yelled in frustration. Sora laughed at the memory. It was true though; years had passed since he had needed to draw his weapon. He and Riku sparred regularly, Cloud occasionally joined the fray, but no one else dared cross blades with either one of them. Cloud had returned from chasing Sephiroth infinitely stronger than when he had left with. They all assumed he'd beaten the silver haired monster… he never spoke of it. Still when a stray toss of the keyblade had leveled the Item store near the sparring circle Leon had forced the two to take their duels outside the city gates. The scars that now marked the flatlands outside told the two of them it was probably a good decision.

It was just that time that he saw the bright red flash of Kairi's hair as she poked her head in the door. "Good morning lazy bum."

Sora smiled.

Riku's eyes burst open and instinctively he drew Way to the Dawn, his eyes flashed with anger as he lunged from his bed, bringing the weapon crashing down in an overheard arch the masked figure in his room barely managed to avoid…

Riku followed the weight of the blade and flipped into a low crouch, the weapon poised to counter any attack while the figure regained its balance. Inside he was thankful, had that been Sora it would have been the shortest spar they had ever fought, he reigned in his anger so that he wouldn't act rashly again.

"You… you… you…" The figure swayed from side to side, as if its balance wasn't proper. "You use the darkness… you… you… you… you can be one of us."

Riku quick stepped around the figure and brought the blade swiftly through its midsection. The shadow vanished moments before the blade made contact. Reappearing on the other side of the room.

"I use the darkness…" Riku stated calmly. "It does not use me."

"You… you… you… you say what is true…" the figure said quietly as it vanished once more, leaving Riku alone in his empty room. Riku walked over to where the shadow once stood. His first strike had caught the enemy off guard, and his blade had nicked off a lock of silver hair. He picked it up and immediately set off to find Leon. Things didn't just get into the center of Hollow Bastion. There was trouble coming. He felt the stress set into his body as he let Way to the Dawn fall away from his grip. He hadn't been holding it but for a few minutes… it felt like he'd been fighting for hours.

(Hope you enjoyed the short snippet, Let me know what you think!)


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